With modern high-rise buildings, there is a great need for some form of rescue apparatus for evacuating individuals from upper floors of such buildings. Conventional rescue apparatus is inadequate for performing such evacuations when the area from which individuals are to be rescued is higher than just a few stories, and no conventional means are known for rescuing a large number of individuals from a given area in succession.
Prior art proposals for fire rescue have taken two general forms; apparatus located within a structure from which escape is desired and mobile units for evacuating individuals from buildings by bringing the apparatus to the building. Proposals for forms of the first type of apparatus are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 295,929, 536,088, and 1,116,189. All of these proposals are not practical if rescue is to be effected from more than one or two stories up, and if a large number of people must be rescued in a short period of time with minimum chance of injury to them. Proposals for mobile apparatus are illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 775,158, 3,027,966, and 3,033,308. While such structures might allow for the evacuation of a number of people in succession, again such proposals are not practical when the individuals must be rescued from great heights, such as in modern high-rise buildings. Such proposals contemplate the use of chutes for effecting rescue, however, there are no means associated therewith that would slow the descent of an individual being rescued enough so that no injury would occur to him.
According to the present invention, for the first time apparatus is provided to rescue individuals -- even injured and incapacitated individuals -- from upper stories of modern high-rise buildings (i.e. as high as 27 stories up) with minimal chance of injuring the individuals, and with maximum efficiency, any number of individuals being rescuable in succession. According to the present invention, a mobile rescue assembly is provided that includes an elongated chute adapted to be brought into operative association with a building or the like, and means for controlling the descent of an individual in said chute so that the individual will be slowed down and stopped when he reaches the open bottom of the chute without injury, such descent controlling means including cable means mounted within the chute and flaring out from the top of the chute to the bottom of the chute.
An exemplary chute according to the present invention includes a number of reeved, telescoping sections, and means for controlling the inclination of the chute so that it is substantially horizontal (and retracted) during transport from one place to the other, and extends upwardly at an angle (and is extended) when moved into operative position. Means are provided for mounting the cable means within the chute so that the cable sections near the bottom of the chute can be moved from a first position wherein they are relatively widely spaced and maximum slowing of an individual sliding down the chute is provided, to a second position wherein they are relatively closely spaced, and an individual can slide down the chute relatively freely (and movable to any position in between said first and second positions). Individuals sliding down the chute are placed in bags or the like that are clipped to the cable sections, the flaring of the cable sections slowing the individual as he descends disposed within the bag.
It is the primary object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and method for effecting quick rescue of a number of individuals from high-rise buildings and the like with minimal chance of injury to the individuals. This and other objects of the invention will become clear from an inspection of the detailed description of the invention, and from the appended claims.